To add insult to the injury is the notion of paying high HOAs and needing to upgrade the condo.

Renting in Irvine looks like a sensible choice—safety and school districts can be bought for a much cheaper price, plus you can bail out if it doesn’t turn out as great as you envision.

Easier said than done—the allure of trying to own something artificially made extremely expensive and scarce is hard to resist.

Too bad the laundry is in the garage (which is standard for older homes).

The $308 HOA is steep.

The location is better to me since it’s farther from Sand Canyon but still close to the elementary school.

I liked Plan 1 the best because of the upstairs loft and the isolated master shower… but the downstairs of 2 and 3 are nicer (the kitchens have pantries). The master closet in all 3 plans didn’t seem very large to me.

The mean-time between bubbles is apparently decreasing…some people are going to get slammed again.

I didn’t have any immediate plans to write about this, but I will keep it in mind. Thanks for the input.

What happens with $900k homes at 6.75% and conforming Loan limits reduced.

More importantly how will the 2013 change in Conforming Loan limits impact Irvine. Will you be doing a piece on this in the near future.

And Willow Bend in University Park is being built on the Vista Verde school location.

The stop and go of buses, motorcycles and noisy trucks is too random and jarring.

I would never choose to live next to Culver again… but that’s just my opinion.

Let me attempt to answer the specific questions that you and Patricia are asking. 

Q1: “Also, why is IHB in its changed listing format now indicating when a home has an open house and is no longer indicating how long a house has been on the market and how many houses are on the market in a particular neighborhood?”

A1: There is no set format for each blog post.  Each author can add whatever detail they choose to.  This post, reviewing 31 Entrada, was written by Karen and she included certain data about the property.  The post a couple days prior, 17 Heron, was written by SMS and included content that SMS chose too (in this case DOM was part of her post).  Sometimes the author will mention other properties in the market that are nearby; sometimes they don’t. 

Q2: “Is IHB more interested in selling homes than in keeping consumers informed?”

A2: No. The posts are meant to inform readers.  The Open House reviews give readers more detail about the home than they would find on a listings site.  The Closed Sales each week show what homes have closed for in the various neighborhoods in Irvine.

I’d really like to know what about the last 8 months of posts makes you feel like this site is more interested in selling homes than in keeping consumers informed.  I’ve removed pretty much all advertising from the blog.  If it is mainly the Open House reviews that you dislike, what topics would you suggest we feature here instead?

The focus of the site for the last 8 months has been to provide information on Irvine housing.  This consists of sales info, open house reviews (like this one), model home reviews, rent vs buy analyses, etc. 

If you are looking for the blog posts that Irvine Renter was writing, he can be found at his site: ochousingnews.com

Perhaps, the road moise from Yale Ave by the back yard is preventing this house from being sold?

George

53 Festivo is move-in ready… just not as wife-in ready (as I like to call it).

http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,2915.0.html

One issue is 53 Festivo is the same exact plan, not as upgraded but in a somewhat more private location and $100k less:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/53-Festivo-92606/home/4628504

I was just talking to someone about a home today in Northern California and the pricing of the homes have dropped!

She bought a home 2 years ago for $350,000 and with her renovations it is on the market for $450,000. A sweet turn around but living in Maryland we are still staying steady. We hope to turn things around here in the nest year or so.

Thanks for highlighting that.

The problem with single family homes in Irvine—especially under $1M—is that so many of them are attached.  It’s even hard to sort through sites like Redfin to determine attached vs. detached in Irvine (I don’t know why they don’t make it easier for users…).

Funny thing is, detached in some areas of Irvine are going for around the same price as attached.  In my opinion, some of these detached SFR are the bargain of the century.  For example, some areas of Woodbridge (e.g. Cottage Homes) have an occasional detached SFR up for sale in the $600k range, where attached and condos nearby of similar size are in the same price range!  And they offer the same full amenities of Woodbridge as a condo, with a fraction of the HOA costs…

Generally, detached SFR are worth at least a 15-20% premium, so I would say those are ridiculously underpriced right now.

As condo inventory dwindles even lower, I think we’ll see many of those buyers trickle over into the most affordable Irvine SFRs, causing major price increases in the next year especially for $500k-$750k SFRs.  It’ll be interesting to see these same charts in a year from now.

On to my NEW modified mortgage. Yes indeed, this will be my 2nd modification. This one comes from Chase as I do not qualify for the fed. gov. program. Somehow, someway, on a $335,000 loan, my payments WITH taxes is showing at $1109/month. I havven’t seen the terms yet as I’m on the trial plan, but I will post when I get the final loan mod.

There are about 3000 homes that are reported as REO by foreclosureradar.com and only about 550+ of them are listed on the MLS.

So what’s going one with these 2500 homes? Especially now that inventory is the lowest it’s been for a few years.

(http://www.thestreet.com/story/11616596/1/shadow-reo-as-many-as-90-of-foreclosed-properties-held-off-the-market.html)

Only a PITIFUL FOOL (or a FHA-sponsored DEADBEAT)would buy a property under these outrageously MANIPULATED conditions.

Sold on 06/13/2012 @$465k, now listed @$779k. Are we back to the peak of the bubble already?

$850k for this is too high considering same sized homes in this area have sold for $750k or less (including ones with a 3CWG!).

We like the Hill plan 2 best also.  loved the privacy for the master bedroom (especially as the kids grow older) and the openness of the first floor promoting togetherness without feeling cramped.

we thought the Field homes would be better for families with young children.

The Grove 2 remains my favorite overall in LR.

We liked The Hill tract best, especially the Residence 2.  it’s the only one with an extra 1/2 bath downstairs so the one in the bedroom/office doesn’t have to be used.

it’s also the only one without the rarely used separate dining room.  it has a larger great room directly opening up to both the loggia and the side courtyard so a much larger crowd or different dining purposes can be accommodated without separating the diners.  So useful without sacrificing aesthetics.

we loved the 10’ ceiling downstairs and 9’ ceilings upstairs.  this you cannot remodel without tearing down the house!!

We especially like the second floor layout. Master bedroom wing was separated by a well thought out hallway designed with privacy in mind. It didn’t feel like a maze to us at all but purposeful to provide privacy.

We also like the bedroom with 2 doors to the balcony best of all the secondary bedrooms.  It was bright and felt welcoming without sacrificing wall space.  The room even had a nook for a dresser, a desk or other furniture.

The photos on these reviews are just awesome - much better than the ones on the company website or the sales office wall monitors!

Maybe people are choosing the condo over the SFR due to the fact that many buyers right now are FHA and are having a hard enough time coming up with the 3.5% down payment for the lower-priced homes.

Also, a lot of borrowers maybe don’t want to go over the $417,000 mark for their loans…

Yes, we have many parks in Irvine.  That is one of the more refreshing things about the city.  We don’t need more apartments. We definitely don’t need an airport.  And seeing how the I5 is, we don’t really need more people or businesses.

“Would the People of Irvine prefer to visit London, Amsterdam or Paris? Yes they would!!”  Not necessarily.  I love the relative peace and quiet of our city.  If i wanted hustle and bustle, I’d move to LA, or SF, or NY.

What might be unique would be to realize Walt Disney’s original concept of a living city though.

Do the People of Irvine like to visit Parks? Yes, a small percentage do, armed with a blue plastic bag in one hand and a Dog leash in the other, we have a lot of Parks in Irvine, I would say we have enough.

Would the People of Irvine prefer to visit London, Amsterdam or Paris? Yes they would!!

So recreate it.

Take Amsterdam for instance, dig some Canals, build some 4 story Apartments/Condo’s based on European designs along side them, so People could live there, build some European style Coffee shops, Cafe’s and Boutiques - a real European City center.

There would be endless possibilities.

Developers, investors, Renters, Loan Owners,Businesses and Visitors would be lining up.

Enjoy.

It’s a symbolic warning that says;“Whoever buys this overpriced POS will soon be UNDER WATER”.

What a shame!

Included with the cons mentioned for Tustin Field, there is also the noise from Jamboree, the water channel, the nearby waste management facility and the concrete crushing place (noise).

But the homes there are discounted greatly compared to other newer areas of Irvine and some of them have really nice floorplans.

I think Plan 2 was our least favorite of Mille Fleurs so that may also color my opinion.

1) What does writing ‘sound’ like?
2) What if it IS the same author?
3) ‘Spam’ is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. Expressing an opinion is not spam.
4) Attack the IDEA, NOT the author. The blog owners asks for ‘astute observations’ ..not obtuse ones.
5) If your comment reflects the general level of sofistication of this forum’s participants, I’m wasting my breath here.

Every penny in that 3.5% downpayment tells a story of FRAUD, SPECULATION and EMBEZZLEMENT because the only people “buying” right now are FHA-sponsored DEADBEATS using TAXPAYER FUNDED money, both for the downpayment itself AND for the loan.

Why would anyone with REAL savings wish to SQUANDER it by competing against government-manufactured ZOMBIE ‘BUYERS’ in order to purchase an ARTIFICIALLY OVERPRICED asset?

The FACT is that the United States of America suffers from INSTITUTIONALIZED FRAUD and is on the verge of C-O-L-L-A-P-S-E. It is NOT a time right now to take out a MORTGAGE (Mortgage = Death Grip in French language), it is a time to RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!

Who CARES ...as long as FHA is picking-up the tab, right?

I encourage EVERYONE to take-out an FHA loan (even if you can afford a conventional loan ..perhaps I should say ESPECIALLY if you can afford a conventional loan), make one or two payments and then promptly DEFAULT! Once you do this you’ll get about 2-5 years of PAYMENT-FREE LIVING which you can use to save-up some serious cash.

THEN you can go to any of these “Rebuild Your Credit” services and for a measly $1K (give or take) you can have the default WIPED FROM YOUR CREDIT HISTORY!!!

The U.S. government WANTS to re-inflate the housing bubble. Be a good American and HELP OBAMA!

Tune in next week when I’ll teach you how to qualify for Food Stamps ..even when you DON’T really qualify at all.ItsTheFraudStupids

Better than what I’ve seen peeking through Irvine’s housing market.

It’s currently a buy for starter to mid priced homes over here at NOrthern NV. Looking at your previous posts could it slowly be turning into a seller’s market for Irvine?

But, man, that property tax ($9,000!)  has got to hurt…ours is around $3,000 for a comparable home.
Good post..

-Joe

My wife & I have decided to take-out an FHA loan (in her name only), put the minimum donwpayment required, and then DEFAULT on the loan after just one or two payments. Then we’ll sit around and SAVE during the 2-3 years it’ll take the banksters to throw us out. Then we’ll pay this guy I know $1.000 to WIPE OUR CREDIT SLATE CLEAN AGAIN (I’ve witnessed him do it for others).

Lather, Rinse, Repat.

Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em ..JOIN ‘EM!!!

I pay $4300/mo in rent in Northpark, or $51,600 annually.  At 14.4x rent supposedly, my house would sell for $743,000.  If that was the case, it would be sold in less than an hour.  The TMV of the house is between $1.15-$1.2MM based on recent comps…..

I’d love to know where the ratio is truly at 14.4 in the (949) area code…...

My wife would have probably really looked into buying a Plan 2 if it was $760k from the builder.

Is this the first Montecito resale?

How these detached condos sold for $1m is beyond me… I realize it’s Quail Hill… but that area is so dense and they aren’t true SFRs.